Upon arriving in Brussels, Belgium, I noticed a mural of George Floyd.
To say I was surprised would be an understatement. I was so stunned that I had to do a double take, to make sure I was seeing it correctly. But there it was, located at the intersection of Rue des Palais and Avenue de la Reine in Belgium’s capital city. The bigger question: Why was there a mural of George Floyd in a small, northern European country with no ties to George Floyd’s death?
The mural was completed in June 2020 by Belgian artist Julien Crevaels, known professionally as Novadead. It was created to condemn racist violence, according to the Brussels Times.
“We were all shocked by the death of George Floyd, and with the city of Brussels we wanted to condemn racist violence, but also send out a message of peace, non-violence and hope,” Alderman of Culture Delphine Houba was quoted in the Brussels Times. “There have been demonstrations all over the world, including in Belgium. With its many nationalities, and as the capital of Europe, Brussels could not stay behind.”
But there is no evidence that Floyd was ever the victim of racism. The officers involved in Floyd’s death were never charged with hate crimes. Floyd was not a hero or a martyr. He is not a symbol of anything worth commemorating. He did not deserve to die that way, and he was a victim of police misconduct, but let’s get real here, he was also a career criminal killed while resisting arrest. This happens to white criminals all the time — it happens to whites more often, in fact, who account for the majority of people killed by police. That undercuts the idea that this was a crime of racial animus.
The fact that people as far away as Belgium believe that Floyd died because of racism reveals the power of the Left’s political propaganda machine.
Brussels is a left-wing liberal city, so perhaps it should not be altogether shocking that Floyd idolatry should occur here. But, in many other ways, it is alarming how quickly and how far the Left’s propaganda machine can spread its message.
